The Monarch Butterfly! Our garden at YMBB has been attracting these beauties for nearly 30 years during their migration along the lakefront. Sadly though, this elegant creature has been disappearing because of the destruction of habitat along the migration route. Decades ago we enjoyed visits from thousands upon thousands of them, now we are overjoyed when we see but a few. Happily, in more recent years, their numbers are increasing! Why? Because many dedicated people are planting a portion of their property with MILKWEED!

Common Milkweed is the singular food of The Monarch butterfly. It is also a valuable food source for many other insects and bees.

Each autumn I collect the seeds from my own milkweed and mail them out to anyone and everyone who wants to start a milkweed patch. Here is the info sent with the packets:

DIY: A Milkweed Tutorial

If you want seeds I will mail them to you. Simply send me an email to elaine@yeltonmanor.com asking for milkweed seeds, send me your name and full mailing address. Here’s the info:

Enclosed are your milkweed seeds from my garden. Thank you for being a participant in the support of The Monarch Butterfly. Milkweed is the singular food of The Monarch, and also food to many other nectar seeking birds and insects including hummingbirds and bees. The plant is tall and NOT unattractive, with huge snowball shaped balls of extremely fragrant flower clusters in summer. Most happily, you will enjoy ringing the dinner bell for the life cycle of The Monarch butterfly. Read about it here: http://www.mymonarchguide.com/2007/05/raising-caterpillars.html

To plant your milkweed seeds, prepare a garden bed in good sunlight with light soil and excellent drainage. Seeds like a period of 70 degrees to successfully germinate, with light watering every morning for a week or two. Thin out the bed as needed for growth. Then just let them grow on their own. Learn more here: http://www.monarchwatch.org/milkweed/prop.htm

As for propagating/transplanting existing milkweed, it’s not complicated, just has to be done the right way . Milkweed is tap-rooted. Anything tap-rooted is hard to transplant because you have to get ALL of the taproot. These tap roots can go as deep as 2′ into the ground.

As I read on this forum: “I would wait until you have some seedlings coming up around the mother plants and dig those, get them while they are small and move them. The larger ones just die away, or wait until you have seed pods and scatter the seed where you want them. They’ll come up next year in the location you want them to be in.” And then this cool idea:

Milkweed is not a dangerous plant, per se, to grow and handle. But there are some precautions. Be wary if you have latex sensibilities. Also, the sap can cause itchy irritation to skin and burning to eyes if rubbed into them, so be cautious. See further cautions here:

If you have a huge success your first year of growing, it’s possible the caterpillars will destroy your crop! Hooray, it’s perennial and will come back bigger and better. Keep pruning and it will keep throwing out new shoots. Enjoy the fine dining of the beautiful caterpillars and just wait for the arrival of the butterflies!

Collect seeds of your own to pay it forward; let’s give The Monarchs ever-expanding habitat! We’ve come so close to losing them, but they are returning!!! Read about how and when to collect, dry and save seeds (this is my favorite site because of the photos:

Gardens remind us of the fundamental truth: All things must change. The burning bushes that separate the Yelton Manor and The Manor Guest House, gorgeous and beloved for 25 years, now have an incurable disease PLUS are at the end of their lifespan. So they are dying off, one by one, sometimes two by two. As they fall away, we drop what I have come to call “a couple of BIG ASS ROCKS” on their stumps, then I landscape around them. The rocks are strong winter bones. And we like the new look that visually connects the two inns. Plus we can see the span of the garden more fully from our inside vantage points. It’s all good. Thank you to the strong, willing and able friends from Huntree Nursery who did the chain saw massacre and the rock drop this morning.

Robert always hoots out loud when the bill comes from Huntree, as the line item is actually “Big Ass Rocks” on the invoice. Gotta love it.

I treated Matt and his great team to huge glasses of fresh fruit smoothie after the hard work. Organic cherries, raspberries, black raspberries, blueberries, banana, pomegranate and a snidge of yogurt for creaminess. Everyone was happy, the sun was shining and a good day was started perfectly!!!!

Many thanks to all our Yelton Manor B&B team who care deeply about making everything perfect!

The spacious, screened in, 3 season porch at Yelton Manor is definitely one of the most enjoyable common rooms at the inn. We serve breakfast there at two round tables that each have 4 comfortable wicker chairs. The dainty Victorian chandeliers, the ferns, greenery and antique decor add to the sense of summer ease. In the evening we light small votive candles that burn until midnight, as the aroma of moonflower vine, trailing the fence outside, prevails. Quite the lovely spot!!!

This year we repaired window sills, replaced all the screens, painted the storm windows, painted the floor and more. We are excited to get it all back together again!!!

This beautiful porch has a sloped roof that makes it the #1 destination in a thunderstorm. The rain comes down the sides in a furious torrent, the smell is delicious and the mighty thunder and lightning bring all your senses alive!!!